On September 14, 1901, U.S. Vice President Theodore Roosevelt ascended to the presidency following the assassination of William McKinley.
Days later, he moved into the White House with his wife, Edith, and their six children: Alice, Theodore III, Kermit, Ethel, Archibald, and Quentin.
Seventeen-year-old Alice — the only child born to Roosevelt’s late first wife — was intelligent and photogenic, but also spoiled and rebellious. Dubbed “Princess Alice” by the press, she was in the headlines nearly as often as her father was during his presidency. Her antics included smoking cigarettes in public, driving a car without a chaperone, sneaking alcohol into dry parties, attending (and betting on) horse races, and carrying a pet garter snake (named Emily Spinach) in her purse.
Her father was quoted as saying, “I can be President of the United States, or I can attend to Alice. I can’t do both!”
Three events drew particular attention to Alice:
- Her debutante ball, which was held in the White House on January 3, 1902.
- Her travels through Asia, from July to October, 1905. (She accompanied Secretary of War William Howard Taft on a diplomatic trip that featured stops in in Hawaii, Japan, the Philippines, Hong Kong, China, and Korea.)
- Her wedding to Ohio Congressman Nicholas Longworth, which was held in the White House on February 17, 1906.
Among the things named in honor of Alice were a color (Alice Blue), several songs (e.g., “Alice Roosevelt March“), and hundreds of babies:
- 1908: 4,270 baby girls named Alice [rank: 9th]
- 1907: 4,107 baby girls named Alice [rank: 9th]
- 1906: 4,192 baby girls named Alice [rank: 8th]
- 1905: 3,610 baby girls named Alice [rank: 10th]
- 1904: 3,131 baby girls named Alice [rank: 13th]
- 1903: 2,996 baby girls named Alice [rank: 12th]
- 1902: 3,135 baby girls named Alice [rank: 10th]
- 1901: 2,562 baby girls named Alice [rank: 12th]
- 1900: 3,059 baby girls named Alice [rank: 14th]
The name Alice — already very popular during the first decade of the 20th century — saw distinct increases in usage in 1902, 1905, and 1906.
Dozens of the baby girls named Alice during that period were given the middle name Roosevelt. Some examples…
- Alice Roosevelt Fulps, b. 1909 in Texas
- Alice Roosevelt Dunger, b. 1908 in Illinois
- Alice Roosevelt Kemp, b. 1907 in Delaware
- Alice Roosevelt Yanni, b. 1906 in New York
- Alice Roosevelt Gilman, b. 1905 in Maine
- Alice Roosevelt McClelland, b. 1904 in Pennsylvania
- Alice Roosevelt Hogue, b. 1903 in Massachusetts
- Alice Roosevelt Jones, b. 1902 in Oklahoma
- She went by the nickname “Velta.”
What are your thoughts on the name Alice?
Sources:
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth – Theodore Roosevelt Center
- Alice Roosevelt Longworth: Topics in Chronicling America – LOC
- Uenuma, Francine. “From a White House Wedding to a Pet Snake, Alice Roosevelt’s Escapades Captivated America.” Smithsonian 18 Nov. 2022.
- Mann, Lina. “Alice Roosevelt Longworth: Presidential Daughter and American Celebrity.” White House Historical Association 10 Oct. 2017.
- Hastings, Catherine M. “Edith Kermit Roosevelt: First Lady, First Mommy.” Inventing a Voice: The Rhetoric of American First Ladies of the Twentieth Century, edited by Molly Meijer Wertheimer, Rowman & Littlefield, 2004, pp. 45-57.
- Alice in Asia: The 1905 Taft Mission to Asia – Smithsonian’s National Museum of Asian Art
- FamilySearch.org
- SSA
Images from the Library of Congress: Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1902), Alice Roosevelt Longworth (1906)
I love the name Alice, and I love the antics of Alice Roosevelt. Emily Spinach is the best snek name I ever heard.
I’ve been watching Cagney and Lacey during suppertime every evening. I was a little too young for it during the 80s, so the episodes are all new to me. I was delighted that Mary Beth & Harvey Lacey named their new baby Alice Christine (Alice after Mary Beth’s late mother, middle name after partner Christine Cagney) in season 4.
Alice told people she named the snake Emily Spinach “because it was as green as spinach and as thin as my Aunt Emily,” according to the National Park Service.